Reaching Farther
by Ritsucracker
Summary: When 4 becomes 2, how will the remaining survive?  Will a conman find out there's more to a hick than meets the eye?  Blood will bring two men together to learn to live on, despite tragedy and pain.
1. Chapter 1

My first real L4D2 fanfic. It was inspired during a play through in which this actually happened. I lost both Coach and Ro (both bots) and only had Ellis (also a bot). It sort of spiraled out of control in my imagination and I started writing this. The title is based on the song Sound of Pulling Heaven Down by Blue October. For some reason that song makes me think of Nick and Ellis. This isn't exactly a Nick/Ellis fic, but it definitely has those overtones. So sorry NE fans. You might still like it though. And of course, enjoy.

Beta Read by my friend Setsuna-Noroi (or Noroi here).

Disclaimer: _I don't own L4D2. Only a copy of it. And I play it to death._

Nick let the spent casing fall from his hand. Thank God he'd found that grenade launcher. It was the only reason they were alive. ...He was alive. Coach had gone down first. A Boomer had vomited on him, causing the horde to beat him mercilessly until they had finally killed them all. He was trying to use some first aid when the ominous sound of a Tank met their ears. He was now under a car. They tried, in vain, to seek refuge in a building, but the Tank tore through the wall like it was paper. Rochelle had been next, pausing just a little too long while still in the Tank's reach. One good hit and she was down. She may have only been stunned, badly hurt, but an errant grenade had finished the job. Now Ellis had lasted longest (aside from Nick, of course) but had ended up in a corner and was probably too close to the grenades as well...

The conman walked over to the giant infected corpse. Ellis lay partially covered by the beast. This sucked ass. He was alone and was none well off. Yes he'd survived, but just. If the thing hadn't gone after the kid... Poor kid. He didn't deserve to die. As annoying as he was, he was a good kid and if anyone should have lived, it should have been him. The brunette's shoulders slumped as he looked down at the boy, feeling oddly sad at the virtual stranger's death. Suddenly, the hick twitched. Instinctively, Nick raised his handguns. Ellis started to cough and wheeze, trying to move the weight of creature on top of him.

"Shiiit..." he moaned quietly. Nick began to push the hulking mass off the boy and pulled him to his feet. Ellis bent over to retrieve his hat and deposited it on his brown curls, "Holy shit..."

The younger man slouched. Deep dark bruises were already starting to form and Nick wouldn't have been surprised if he had broken something.

"You gonna make it, Ellis?" Nick asked gentler than he expected.

"Yeah," the boy smiled weakly, reloading his gun.

"Then let's go."

"Wait. What 'bout Ro and Coach?" Ellis furrowed his brow. Nick's stomach dropped. Didn't he see what had happened? "We-we gotta wait fer 'em. Or go find 'em."

"No, Ellis," Nick grabbed him as he turned to walk toward the door.

"Why not?" Ellis turned back to the older man, confusion in his eyes.

"Don't look, kid. It's not for you to see... It's just us now," Nick answered softly.

"No. NO," Ellis shook his head, "We gotta check on 'em. They might be hurt or somethin'. C'mon, Nick."

"Ellis, trust me, they're not just hurt," Nick said with a hint of frustrated irritation.

"Bastard!" Ellis yelled, struggling against Nick's grip, "Selfish bastard! We gotta check! We gotta help 'em! We-we-"

"Ellis! Coach is out there under a fucking car! And Rochelle-," the words stuck in his throat as he was hit with a wave of guilt. Ellis stopped his fighting, looking back at the Tank, uncertainly.

"Are... are they really... Are we really... alone?" Ellis swallowed hard.

"Yeah," Nick whispered. They stood, trying to fathom the truth of the situation. They'd been alone before, no help, no nothing, but it had been the four of them alone. Now the loneliness and helplessness had been doubled in a matter of minutes, "We've got to keep moving."

For another moment, Ellis wouldn't budge, staring and waiting; waiting for a cry of help or to see one of the others limping over to them. Nick felt him melt in his hand as he begrudgingly accepted the truth. Ellis threw him one more pleading look, his eyes asking to just double, triple, check on Coach and Rochelle. Nick steeled himself, leading the young man up the stairs. There was no time for the fallen when the living still needed help.


	2. Chapter 2

This will probably follow the game pretty closely as far as where they go and what they are doing. I'm going to explore more into their time in the safe houses and in between campaigns. As always, enjoy.

Beta Read by my friend Setsuna-Noroi (or Noroi here).

Disclaimer: _I don't own L4D2. Only a copy of it. And a Bull Shifters shirt._

It felt like it had taken an eternity to reach the mall safe house. Just their luck it had been abandoned like the ones before it. Luckily, they hadn't run across any other Tanks and, though it hadn't been a walk in the park getting cola for the bastard on the gun shop roof, they weren't much worse off. Well, Nick wasn't much worse off. Ellis had barely said a word since they'd walked up the stairs. Nick had had to grab him before he walked straight into a Witch. When they had met a few hours earlier, he'd been raring to go, whooping and hollering, and the three of them had barely been able to hold him back. Now the boy was distracted and subdued. Not that Nick could blame him. Sure, they hadn't known each other long, but facing mobs of zombies had made them bond fast. Also, it must have been humbling to the mechanic who seemed to think himself, and by extension them, invincible to see death.

Now, in silence, the men sat. Ellis sat on the edge of a table, staring at the ground. Nick leaned near the door they had come in from, keeping an eye on the state of things outside. The hick coughed and cursed softly under his breath. This brought Nick's mind to consider the state of Ellis. He'd nearly been beaten to death by a Tank and it was a miracle he was alive now.

"Take off your shirt," Nick said. Ellis looked at him like he was insane. Nick took off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves, "I just want to bandage you up."

Ellis blushed a bit, feeling stupid about misunderstanding Nick's intentions. The older man could see the pain etched on Ellis' face as he slipped the article of clothing over his head. The skin of his abdomen had turned dark purple from where he'd been hit. Delicately, Nick ran his fingers along the kid's chest. He wasn't a doctor, but he figured if a rib or something were broken bad enough, he'd be able to feel it. Though he really didn't know what he could do. What if Ellis did have a broken rib or something? What was he going to do? Tell him to wait there? That he'd bring help? Fuck that; he wasn't doing this alone. Pretty much the kid was screwed.

Nick ran his hands about a few times, prodding places, before sighing.

"I don't think anything is broken..." Nick scratched his head. Watching how he'd been after the attack, he assumed he'd suffered no broken limbs. That didn't change the fact he probably hurt like hell. Rummaging through some of the first aid kits and other supplies, he found some pain pills and gave them to the boy. Ellis stared at them a moment.

"Water?" he asked. Some more digging produced a few water bottles. Ellis poured out a few of the tablets and took them with a swig of water. Nick opened another one of the bottles and took a bit of cloth, wetting it, and started wiping Ellis' face. It was covered in blood; his own, the zombies, hell, probably some of Nick's too. Ellis didn't object.

Why I am doing this? Nick thought. His face had to be twice as dirty as the hick's but he didn't care. All he wanted was to clean all the blood and dirt off the young man's face. Maybe he felt sorry for the boy. He was obviously very upset and injured. Maybe he just wanted to feel like he was doing something, anything, useful; like he had control over something and it wasn't all a loss. Nick tossed the soiled napkin over on the floor. Out the door he could see the last vestiges of the sun as it fell.

"Might as well stop for the night," Nick thought out loud. Ellis merely nodded.

The older man looked all around the safe house, just seeing what all was there. There was a supply box, mostly empty but for unraveled bandaging, with a few still useful items hidden away. Another box had dented cans and boxes of food. There were a few blankets on the floor and a lantern near the far wall.

Despite not really being hungry, Nick cracked open a can of carrots. He offered Ellis some, but he declined. Shrugging, the conman ate his dinner slowly. Now that they weren't running and the sun was down, it began to get cool. Nick tossed Ellis two of the blankets and kept two for him. Using his jacket as a pillow, he laid down on the hard floor to try to sleep.

The night was quiet save for the sound of Ellis as he shifted around periodically. Not that Nick could sleep either. He lay on his back, staring at the ceiling, wishing he could go to sleep or, better yet, wake up. It was such a nightmare. Why was he even here? He was just passing through. There was no reason for him to be in Savannah and he hadn't intended to be here. God must hate me, he decided.

"Nick?" came a small voice.

"What?" he asked gruffly.

"I'm cold..." came the reply.

"No," Nick said plainly. He knew where the boy was going.

"But, Nick-"

"Ellis, I'm not some kind of faggot. I'm not gonna hold you while you sleep. Get another blanket or something."

"There ain't no more..."

Nick didn't say anything but threw one his own covers at the boy. Wordlessly, Ellis added that one to the layers covering him. The boy got quiet and Nick assumed he'd fallen asleep. Eventually, exhaustion took hold of the conman and he too fell into sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Nellis fans will like the beginning of this chapter. Haha. Anyway, enjoy.

Beta Read by my friend Setsuna-Noroi (or Noroi here).

Disclaimer: _I don't own L4D2. Only a copy. And I have it partially memorized._

Nick woke with a strange feeling; a weight resting on his chest. Looking down, he saw the curly head of his junior resting right above his heart and, perhaps more alarmingly, his arm around the slighter frame. It crossed his mind to shove him off roughly, cursing him. Exercising self-control, he settled on just cursing.

"Dammit Ellis!" he scolded. Ellis shot up, a grimace on his face as he tried to gauge how much trouble he was in. The older brunette merely glared at him.

"Sorry, Nick," Ellis mumbled. He stood quickly, trying to hide how much it hurt, and walked to the food box, "Whatchu want fer breakfast?"

Nick didn't answer, choosing instead to ignore him and grab something on his own. Ellis chose a can of ravioli, eating it while sitting at his place on the table.

"How're you feeling?" Nick asked after a bit of silence.

"Fine," Ellis smiled, assuming the question meant Nick wasn't angry anymore.

"You ready to head out?"

"Hell yeah!"

That honestly wasn't the response Nick was expecting. After how despondent he'd become yesterday, he didn't expect Ellis to bounce back with such tenacity. Though he had to admit he preferred the bubbly annoying Ellis to him being depressed and more of a liability in a fight. They gathered their weapons, pocketed all the pills and first aid kits they could, and made their way into the mall.

Ellis slid down the safe house door after he shut it. Barely, they'd just barely made it there alive. Nick had never realized how much help Rochelle and Coach had actually been. Neither of them had had anything special to add to the team, but they could shoot a gun and that was really all that was necessary.

"Let's rest here a bit," Nick said.

"You tired all ready, old man?" Ellis teased.

"Actually, I'm doing this for you."

"I didn't know you cared," Ellis grinned.

"I don't. I just thought you could use a break after the ass kicking you just got and I still want to use you as a meat shield," Nick smirked. For a split second, he saw Ellis' smile flicker.

"Holy shit!"

"What?" Nick pulled up his gun, expecting to see infected trying to knock down the safe house door.

"Jimmy Gibbs Jr. was here!"

"Who?"

"Hell, man, Jimmy Gibbs Jr. He's just the greatest thing to ever come outta Savannah."

"That's not that big an accomplishment," Nick mumbled but Ellis didn't hear him, too busy staring reverently at the posters on the wall.

"Hey, I just got an idea..." Ellis began slowly, "Jimmy Gibbs' stock car's gotta be somewhere 'round here. If we can find it, we could drive it all the way to New Orleans."

Ellis was beaming as he finished pitching his plan. Nick stared blankly at him. It was a good idea and he was a little surprised it had come out of the hick's mouth.

"Sounds fine to me," Nick sighed. The smile on Ellis' face was bigger than Nick thought humanly possible. The two gathered medical supplies and ammo before leaving their safe haven.

The smile hadn't left Ellis' face since they had found the car. They were now flying down the streets, past rambling infected and abandoned cars.

"Damn, this is cool," he said for the 100th time. Nick just stared out the window, "Boy would Keith be jealous if he could see me now... You got any friends, Nick?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"...I move around a lot."

"Oh. I don't got a lot of friends. Mostly it's just me n' Keith n' Dave. I mean, I got other friends, but they's my best friends. You got a wife?"

"No."

"A girlfriend?"

"No."

"Me neither. Not that I don't want one... It's just all the girls just wanna be friends. Not that there's anything wrong with bein' friends, but..." Ellis trailed off, "So you travel a lot?"

"For work."

"Whatcha do?"

"It doesn't really matter now..."

"I guess not... I was a mechanic, y'know. Me n' Keith used to run an auto shop and-"

"Ellis, can you be quiet?" Nick asked, annoyed.

"Okay," Ellis muttered. Nick leaned his head back and shut his eyes.

Suddenly, Nick found himself with a lot of free time on his hands. They weren't having to run for their lives or rush to try to find a still running evac center. They were driving themselves to New Orleans and the older man now had a chance to relax. Next to him he heard Ellis occasionally hum or sing a bit of a song to entertain himself with no one to talk to. He was now virtually alone with his thoughts and his mind seemed to want to go back to the Tank. He really hadn't given it much thought after it happened; he was too busy trying to keep himself and Ellis alive. Now one specific detail was pushing itself to the front of his mind: Rochelle's death. There was nothing he could have done for Coach. He felt a bit sad he was gone, but accepted it was beyond his abilities to have helped him. Rochelle, on the other hand, had been right there. He saw it clear as day: the Tank punched her and she fell with a scream of pain. She'd called out, reaching out her hand. Then he shot a grenade.

If he'd gone over and taken her hand, would she still be alive? Or would he have just joined her? He'd never know. What he did know, however, was that it wasn't the Tank that killed her. Guilt began to creep into his chest, making him sick to his stomach. He was such a goddamn coward sometimes. When things got hard, he ran. It was just how he worked; how he survived. It just usually didn't result in someone else dying. Once there was a time he hadn't run from problems, but that felt like a lifetime ago. It was just him and he'd gotten good at taking care of just himself. Is that why Rochelle had died?

"Nick?" a hand shook his shoulder. Nick opened a green eye to glare at the source of the annoyance, "We gotta get out."

"Why?" They couldn't possibly have gotten to New Orleans already and he doubted they needed gas yet.

"We've run out of clear road, man," Ellis pointed out the front window. For miles the road was covered in abandoned vehicles. Nick groaned.

"Looks like we're walking..."


	4. Chapter 4

I do really hope that you all out there are enjoying these. At least I enjoy writing them.

Beta Read by my friend Setsuna-Noroi (or Noroi here).

Disclaimer: _I don't own L4D2. Only a copy. And a cricket bat._

Clouds gathered in the already darkening sky as the two men walked silently down the deserted stretch of road. It made Nick terribly uncomfortable to walk between all the abandoned cars; they made the way narrow, making escape harder, and gave the infected plenty of good places to hide and pounce at them from. Ellis glanced sadly behind them as they first left the car.

"Damn shame," he'd shaken his head, imagining the abuse the poor vehicle would probably be subject to. Nick couldn't care less. It was a car; it had gotten them from point A to a point slightly closer to B and he was grateful, but it was still just a car.

The wandering infected caused little trouble. The worst thing that had happened was when a Smoker had grabbed Nick. It had been hidden in the brush on the side of the road and had managed to pull Nick all the way to it. He struggled and tried to yell for Ellis to find him. The edges of his vision were starting to go dark when the young man came running to him, shooting the offending creature. As it died with a wheeze, Nick gasped, breathing in a lung full of the thick smoke. Ellis helped him get out of the cloud and they took a few moments to savor the cleaner air.

"Search lights," Nick noted as he surveyed the distant skies, "Maybe another evac center."

"Hey, that's Whispering Oaks!" Ellis said, excitedly. Nick vaguely remembered seeing a billboard or two with the name but otherwise the name meant nothing. Apparently it meant a lot to Ellis, who began to ramble and Nick ignored it.

A nearby motel turned out to be a treasure trove. They searched all the open rooms and left a few pills, bombs, and weapons richer. Sliding down a hill brought them to a bog and Nick tensed. As much as possible, he tried to stay out of the water, walking gingerly in the mud.

"What's wrong with you?" Ellis asked at seeing his partner's odd behavior.

"I hate getting dirty," Nick answered through a tight lipped grimace.

"Shit, Nick. Mud ain't nothin' to be scared of."

"It's a bitch getting it out of this," he pointed to his suit, "And there aren't many laundromats open during the apocalypse."

Up a hill and through a parking lot lay another safe house. They narrowly avoided setting off a car alarm as they rushed toward it. In the safe house, they rested a bit but were unwilling to stay long. It wasn't yet dark and they still had hopes of finding someone or something to help them further on. After grabbing more ammo, they set off for the carnival.

Nick stared in annoyed disbelief. The safe house was right in front of them and in front of that sat a Witch. The two of them stood dumbfounded, cursing their luck.

"Imma go get it," Ellis said as he cocked his shotgun.

"What?" Nick turned toward the boy, hoping he's misheard him. Ellis shot him a thumb up before he started jogging toward the obstacle, "Ellis. Ellis, no. No. NO."

None of Nick's frantic whispers stopped Ellis. He turned and gave another thumb up. The Witch was starting to get agitated by his proximity. Ellis stopped, lining up his shot before practically jumping the remaining distance between him and the infected. As he heard the shot, Nick realized he had shut his eyes and he was holding his breath. Slowly, he opened them, expecting to hear the screaming any second and see the poor idiot being ripped to shreds. Much to his surprise, all he saw was the Witch's body fall over limply. They both stared at the corpse for a while before running the rest of the way to Tunnel of Love safe room. Once inside, the two burst into laughter.

"Goddamn, kid," Nick said, "You're a moron."

"Holy shit."

"Daamn. You could have gotten yourself killed."

"Shit. Shit, shit, shit."

They couldn't seem to stop laughing. What had just happened had been such a long shot; a one in a million shot. And the kid had done it. They were both alive and maybe that was the joke. Either way, it was a few minutes before they could talk again. Ellis began to describe his shot and though Nick had been there, he humored him and listened. None of his stupid plan should have worked and Nick was feeling intensely glad that Ellis, as retarded as he was, was still alive.

After their break, they made their way into the faintly lit tunnel. They sloshed through the cloudy water. It was stiflingly hot and humid in the enclosed ride. The pink and purple lights flickered, more eerie than romantic now.

"I ain't been in the Tunnel of Love much. I've been a few times, and they was good times," Ellis grinned, "My buddy Keith drowned in the Tunnel of Love. He was with his lady friend at the time an' he fell out and was yellin' at her to help 'im out but she didn' wanna get wet-"

"Ellis, can it," Nick snapped.

"Okay... You ever get lucky in the Tunnel of Love?" Ellis asked slyly.

"No. That's how I ended up with my now ex-wife."

"Ha, sorry, man. That sucks," Ellis laughed, "One time I was with this girl and-"

The story was cut short by screech and a Hunter tackling Ellis. Nick quickly shoved the creature off of him; a few shots rendered it dead.

"You think you can possibly keep your mind on what we're doing right now?" Nick chuckled. Ellis turned a little red, embarrassed by his failure to pay attention.

"Sure thing," Ellis grunted as Nick pulled him to his feet. The kid slumped a moment, rubbing his chest. His bruises were still fresh and sensitive. Nick let him have his breather.

He was really expecting a lot out the hick. The Tank attack had barely been about 24 hours ago and it had caused quite a bit of physical, and emotional, damage. Nick couldn't help but admire his strength and, somewhat dimwitted, optimism. Just a little bit.

"I don't like the sound of that," Nick announced. After going through maintenance areas, they had come to a part of the tunnel that didn't feel quite as stagnant. If he stood still, he could swear he felt a breeze and that could only mean the way out was close. Peeking around the corner, he saw the only thing between the two of them and fresh air: a horde.

Nick felt the boy's breath on the back of his neck as he looked over his shoulder. They both knew that the second they started shooting, the wandering infected would swarm them. With a sigh, Nick nodded to Ellis who nodded back. Two infected fell and the rest rushed toward them with a chorus of shrieks. Blood and bullets filled the air as the infected didn't seem to stop coming. Nick felt Ellis press against him as they were both pressed against wall. But eventually the raging horde was reduced to a pile of bodies and Nick tried to shake the gore from his white jacket. They picked their way through the corpses and Nick savored the feeling of the cooler air. Nick raised an eyebrow as Ellis put his hand on his shoulder and his head and chest on his back.

"Well, well, Ellis. I didn't know you were interested," Nick smirked. There was no immediate answer.

"Nick," Ellis said quietly, "Can we rest for a bit?"

The older man turned toward his partner. Ellis had one of his arms wrapped around his middle, breathing gingerly. He was in a great deal of pain.

"Yeah," Nick helped Ellis over to the wall to sit and squatted next to him.

They needed to find help and fast. For all of his enthusiasm and energy, Ellis wasn't superhuman. Ellis fumbled in his pocket for a bottle and took a few pills. A sound began to build as they sat and Nick went to peer out the open bay door.

"Helicopter," Nick breathed. He pulled Ellis up to his feet, "There's a helicopter. We need to signal it. We've just got a little further to go."

Ellis smiled and got his weapons ready.

"So," Nick began, looking intently at the Midnight Rider's poster before him, "This band; they've got some kind of amazing show, right?"

"Midnight Riders? Hell yeah, man! You can see their shows from space. They got, like, the biggest pyrotechnic displays in the world."

"It seems to me that they left in a pretty big hurry. If we're lucky, maybe they left their equipment lying around. And if their show is even half as big as you say, it should be enough to signal the pilot."

Ellis' jaw went slack.

"You mean we're gonna start a Midnight Rider's concert? Shit, today has to be the best day of my life. I drove Jimmy Gibb's stock car, got to run the Screaming Oak, n' now I get to go to a Midnight Rider's concert," Ellis grinned from ear to ear.

"Yeah. It'd be perfect if there weren't any zombies trying to kill you."

"They ain't that bad," Ellis shrugged, sitting by the wall.

"'Ain't that bad?'" Nick looked incredulously at the kid, "They nearly killed your ass and 'they ain't that bad?'"

"Ya gotta learn to enjoy what life throws atcha. There's always a silver lining. That's what my ma use to say."

"I'm pretty sure she didn't have this in mind when she said it."

"You gotta loosen up, Nick."

"You're insane," Nick shook his head. There had to be something seriously wrong with him to be able to talk about all the _FUN_ he was having during the apocalypse. It didn't really matter. Whatever kept him going didn't matter, just as long as it worked.

"Smoker!" Nick cried as he felt the slippery tongue wrap around his chest. Ellis spun on his heels, shooting the appendage as it drug Nick along the bleachers. The young man yanked his friend up and both scrambled into the waiting helicopter while they still had a slight lead on the zombies. The arena and music began to fade into the distance.

Ellis had a satisfied smirk on his face as he leaned against the wall of the helicopter. Nick had to admit he felt pretty good too. They'd finally made it. The chopper would take them to safety; they were in the clear. With a sigh, he rested his head on the wall too. They'd been flying a while when the helicopter dipped. A little turbulence, nothing to worry about, Nick assured himself. Then it happened again and it didn't feel right. Nick stood to go see the pilot and ask what was going on.

"Hey, there a problem?" No answer, "Hey."

Nick jostled the pilot's shoulder and he jerked his head toward him. The pilot growled low, his pale yellow eyes gleaming. For a few seconds, time seemed to stand still as they stared at each other. Just as the newly infected man prepared attack, Nick drew his weapon. Brain and bone splattered on the glass as the former pilot's body slumped to the ground. This got Ellis' attention and he scrambled to the cockpit.

"What the hell did you do?" He asked, alarmed. Nick didn't answer, grabbing for the now vacant controls.

The helicopter was starting to dive and he was trying his best to pull it out. He seemed to level it out a bit, but then they began to lose altitude. Ellis muttered a prayer and Nick managed to say one word before they hit the ground.

"Fuck."


	5. Chapter 5

Next chapter. Yay. I bet you were all holding your breath to see how it all turned out, right? Not really. I got writer blocked about 1/3 through and didn't finish this for a long time. Not one of my better works, I think, unfortunately. I hope you enjoy it, regardless.

Beta read by my friend SetsunaNoroi (or Noroi here).

Disclaimer: _I do not own L4D2. I just pretend I do._

Nick groaned as he woke. It had been a hell of a landing, but any crash you could live through was alright with him. There was now a large knot on his head and a huge bruise on his arm where it had nearly broken. His knees were sore, along with his abdomen where he had been thrown into the control panels. Ellis lay near his feet, having been knocked into the cockpit.

"C'mon Ellis, it's time to get up," he said hoarsely, softly slapping Ellis' face. Ellis let out a strained moan as he opened his eyes and slowly sat up. With one hand he rubbed his head and the other instinctively began to search for his misplaced hat.

"Where're we?" Ellis asked thickly. Nick shrugged.

"Middle of nowhere, I guess."

Both men sat quietly trying to get their bearings when Ellis started to remember what had happened.

"You shot the pilot. Why'd you shoot the pilot?" Ellis began to get angry, "If you wanna kill yerself, you can do it without me."

"He was infected," Nick answered, venom in his voice. He was fully justified in his actions and hell if he was going to defend himself to the kid.

"Yeah, but he was our only pilot. Ya coulda killed us!"

"So you wanted us to crash AND get bitten?"

Ellis didn't say anything else, but continued to glare at the older man. After a bit, he stood and started to walk away. Nick tried to follow, standing up but quickly falling back down with a yelp as pain washed over him.

"You okay?" Ellis rushed back over, his anger immediately replaced by deep concern. He helped Nick to his feet.

"I can walk," Nick grunted, shooing away Ellis as he tried to put his arm around him. He reached into his pocket, found a bottle of pills, and choked down a few.

The two men limped from the crashed vehicle. They didn't know where they could go but they knew they needed to find some kind of safe place. As luck would have it, they were on the edge of civilization. Or at least as far as Nick was concerned, a reasonable facsimily of it. It was a backwater swamp village that immediately brought to mind dueling banjos. Some train cars made a barricade around the entrance of town. They decided to rest in one that seemed to have been used as a rest stop before.

"Where do ya think we should go now?" Ellis asked as he surveyed the deserted gas station and road.

"I think we should stay here for a while."

"Here? But this ain't a safe house or nothing..."

"I'm not saying we should spend the night here. I'm just saying we were in a fucking helicopter crash and I don't feel like walking right now," Nick snapped. The pills hadn't quite kicked in yet. Ellis shrugged, moving to sit next to Nick.

"So... the pilot was infected?"

"Yeah."

"If I was infected, you'd shoot me too?"

"Yeah," Nick answered. It was a stupid question. If he got infected, he'd treat him the way he treated all the others.

"You'd, like, make sure I was actually infected, right?" Ellis frowned. Nick rolled his eyes.

"Sure; I'll just ask you. If you say no, I won't shoot you. If you go for my jugular, I'll cap your ass. How does that sound?"

"Fine, as long as I can shoot you, too," the kid pouted, fiddling with his gun.

"Look, just try to relax for a while. We're not going to have to shoot each other and if you shut your mouth, I won't even want to shoot you."

Ellis said nothing more, leaning back and staring at the wall. Nick wondered how far the next safe house was. There had to be one even out here. Though it looked as if there were very few infected in the area. Of course, they had a terrible habit of attacking all at once when you least expected it, making their absence more distressing than comforting.

The sun began to sink in the sky, casting a brownish shadow across the road outside. Nick's pain pills had finally started working and the adrenaline rush he'd had after the crash had begun to dissapate making him feel increasingly tired. Ellis had already drifted off, leaning a little on Nick's shoulder. Fighting sounded like a really awful prospect to him, but he figured the alternative would be to stay there for the night and that sounded worse.

"Hey," Nick shrugged his shoulder, bumping Ellis who opened his eyes, "Let's head out."

"Okay," Ellis stretched gingerly, collecting his weapons and first aid.

Insects and frogs droned all around them as they trudged through the mud and tall weeds. They passed shack after shack, opened and ravaged, holding little to nothing of value. As run down as it was, Nick couldn't imagine it wasn't much better looking before the outbreak.

He felt somehow numb as they made their way deeper into the swamp. He was exhausted and between that and the pills, he didn't feel much of anything. Ellis seemed to be the same way, oddly quiet and lagging farther behind than usual. They'd be happy to find something with four secure walls, whether or not it was a safehouse. They were almost tempted to swim across the water rather than turn on the winch to bring the ferry over. Ultimately, their fear of alligators trumped their annoyance toward the infected the noise would alert.

Just as the ferry arrived, the two heard the lowing of an oncoming Charger. They spun around and watched as a Charger ran past both of them and splashed in the water.

"Did you see that?" Nick asked.

"I think so," Ellis answered.

Without another word, they made their way across the river, laughing at the oddity. They sloshed their way through the swamp. Nick was a bit surprised, and happy, to find planks. He was no longer worried about staining his suit; it was beyond saving, but he was glad to get out of the stagnant water that had more of the consistency of slime than anything else.

"Hey,is that a safehouse?" Ellis asked, pointing ahead of them. Nick squinted. Sure enough, a few yards away was a large culvert with a red metal door. He nodded and they jogged to it, ready to rest.

The safehouse was mostly empty, just a table and some sleeping bags. There didn't seem to be any boxes of food and very little in the way of supplies. It smelled heavily of the sick stenches of the swamp and little air could circulate. Still, it was a place to stop and that's all that mattered at that point.

"Shit, man. I ain't ever felt this bad. I hurt in places I didn't know ya could hurt," Ellis groaned as he sat down by the wall. Nick slumped across from Ellis and swallowed another pill, "Ya think there's any kind of evac or anything out here?"

"I have no idea."

"Well, they got safehouses, so maybe if we keep goin' we'll find something. I mean, I think we're in as deep a' shit as we're gonna get, so it couldn't hurt, right?"

"Reasonable enough," Nick shrugged with a little smirk.

"Y'know what I could use about now? A beer. Like, I dunno, that just sounds really nice right now. You drink?"

"A little."

"Maybe we could have a beer together after all this." Nick shrugged noncommitally at the suggestion. It was a little early to be making drinking dates.

They sat quietly for a few minutes.

"I'm going to sleep," Nick announced, grabbing one of the sleeping bags.

"Okay," Ellis mumbled.

The sleeping bag was muddy and a little moist. It had been well worn before it had been brought out for use there. He grumbled a bit as he slipped in. It didn't take long for him to fall into an exhaustive sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

I feel like writing this chapter took forever. Not really much to say.

Beta read by my friend Setsunanoroi (or Noroi here).

Disclaimer: _I do not ownL4D2. It owns me._

Nick was walking through a street he'd never seen but was somehow convinced he knew. It reminded him of a neighborhood he'd lived in once while with his dad. An old sort of place, rundown and poor. Nothing was in the streets: no cars, no infected, just nothing. Coach, Rochelle and Ellis were with him. He heard them talking, though couldn't understand what they said.

Suddenly, he was holding his shotgun and fired, shooting Coach in the back. The large black man fell. The sound seemed to echo forever. Rochelle and Ellis turned to Nick, neither seemed surprised or scared. Nick fired again, shooting Rochelle in the chest. She slumped to her knees and fell on her face, her expression never changing. Now he and Ellis were alone. Ellis blinked at him, like he didn't know what was about to happen. Maybe he didn't think he would, that he could, do it. Nick pressed the barrel to the young man's head and pulled the trigger.

Nick's eyes shot open with a gasp. His heart was racing. The sound of another blast made him sit up. Ellis was standing at the exit, the barrel of his rifle stuck between the bars. He shifted it a bit before letting out another shot.

"Ellis, what the hell are you doing?" Nick asked angrily. Ellis jumped.

"Sorry, Nick. Didn't mean t' wake you."

"What are you doing?"

"I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep so I've been shootin' infected," Ellis answered, looking like a kid caught disobeying his parents. Nick grunted. The sound of the rifle must have caused his nightmare.

"Stop wasting ammo," Nick huffed, standing. Immediately, he was struck by the claustrophobia of the safehouse. He hadn't cared the night before, but now he saw how small and empty it was. Rummaging around, he saw that he was right in guessing there was no food. He did find a pile of ammo, a bottle of pills, and some used bandages and needles.

"Yeah, there ain't much here," Ellis stated as he watched Nick looking around, "So how'd you sleep?"

"Fine," he answered mechanically.

"That's good. Honestly, I slept like shit. I mean, I used to camp some before, but I guess this ain't really much like campin', is it? I dunno. I just couldn't stay asleep."

Nick let most of Ellis' drabble go straight through his ears, just grunting a response. He poured out another handful of pills and threw them back. Not unexpectedly, he felt like he'd been hit by a truck. The tablets stuck in his throat, no clean water available to help them down.

"So, we gonna head out?"

"I don't know. You feel up to moving out?"

"I guess so," Ellis shrugged.

"Then I guess we might as well. Nothing here to keep us around."

They drug their feet, making sure their weapons were reloaded and pocketed all the ammo they could. They had no idea how far they were from the next safe house. In the middle of the swamp, it would be easy to get lost. Who was to say they'd find another, so they wanted to make sure they were as ready for a long haul.

Ellis barred the door. Both men were thoroughly exhausted. Their trek had lasted most of the day and the sun was setting just out one of the boarded windows. Nick was glad to be out of the swamp. His once white slacks had dried a pale brown flecked with red. He pulled off his shoes and socks, hoping they would dry a bit while they stayed the night. Ellis seemed to have the same idea, kicking off his boots with a loud thud for each.

The safe house wasn't all that much bigger than the culvert they had left earlier in the day, though it felt more comfortable. The main room was a kitchen and dining area. To the right was a small room with a mattress and next to it a small bathroom. To the left was a small closet. Cozier than most houses he'd been in, but Nick had to admit after the past few days, it seemed pretty nice. Especially since there was still some food in the kitchen.

Ellis opened a can of peas, throwing it back like it was a can of soda.

"And t' think I used to hate peas," he laughed. He grabbed another can, this time of spinach. Nick grinned to himself as he found a can of carrots. If nothing else, this little adventure was forcing him to eat better than usual. He couldn't remember when he'd eaten so many vegetables.

Nick found a bottle of water and took another couple pain pills, sitting down at the table in the middle of the room.

"Man, I wonder how things are back in Savannah," Ellis pondered out loud.

"I figure its in the same deep shit as when we left it."

"I wonder how my house is. I mean, we been goin' into other peoples houses. Ya think people are going through my house?"

"Probably."

"Shit," he frowned, "Man, I bet they'll steal all my stuff too. I worked damn hard for that stuff..."

Nick just shrugged. For the past few years, all he really had was a suitcase and the clothes on his back. It just worked better for his self imposed nomadic lifestyle.

"Hey, Nick..."

"What?"

"You think any other helicopters have crashed?"

"I don't know. Probably. I mean, we can't have that shitty of luck," Nick shrugged. Ellis became visibly upset at the statement and Nick couldn't catch himself before he blurted out, "Hey, why don't you tell me about your friend. Uh, Keith, right?"

The hick brightened at the suggestion and immediately began talking up a storm. Nick inwardly groaned at the beast he'd unleashed, but decided hearing about the retarded hillbilly was better than Ellis getting depressed.

After a few hours of talking, they decided it was as good a time as any to try to get some sleep. The mattress was a queen size and would easily fit both of them. Nick took the side closest to the wall and Ellis the side by the door. Neither faced the other as they drifted their way into sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry this took so long. Xbox died and I wasn't motivated and I didn't have time. But it's here now. I'm working on a chapter for the Passing. I'll upload it when it's finished. This chapter has a lot of action. I hope its okay. I didn't have a beta reader for this chapter so be kind when you review. Please enjoy.

Disclaimer: _I do not own L4D2. I just have it for two different systems._

The sun shone through the openings between the boards haphazardly covering the windows. Nick woke and saw Ellis asleep, half off the mattress with all the covers. He carefully stepped over the sleeping youth.

It felt like it had been forever since he'd seen the sun, though he wasn't sure if it was because of the weather or he just didn't notice it while running for his life. Either way, it was oddly comforting, reminding him of times before the infection.

He rifled the cabinets once more, looking for something to call breakfast. With a sigh, he began to open a can of green beans. Ellis must have been part cat, the sound of the can being opened causing him to shift and then to wake.

"Mornin, Nick," Ellis yawned. His eyes looked rather red. Nick nodded and Ellis picked out his breakfast. "Kinda a purty mornin..."

Nick 'mmphed' and nothing else was said as they ate and blinked the sleep away. Ellis stretched and gathered his guns. They loaded up and opened the door.

It was a rather muggy morning but seemed almost too perfect for their scenery. The houses had a quaint antique charm to them. The small trees and dirt roads were a far cry from the swamps they had just fought through and he was thankful for the change.

The infected were energetic it seemed. He wondered if it was the sun making them agitated. Overall though, they made their way down the road without incident. A large plantation house perched on a small hill became their destination. It seemed that survivors before them had tried, and failed, to use it as a safe house. Bombs, medicine, and munitions were scattered in various rooms.

"Holy shit!" Ellis cried as he looked out onto the balcony.

"What?" Nick raised his magnum quickly.

"Lookit the size a' that gun," he marveled, running his hands over the mounted gun on the railing. Nick frowned at the false alarm.

"Wait; You hear that?" Ellis asked after they had descended into the backyard.

"What?" Nick was patching a gash on his arm with a first aid kit he'd found.

"It's over there."

Ellis walked to where he heard the noise with Nick close behind.

"Hello. Anyone out dere?" A radio squawked at them.

"Yes. Yes. Hello?" Nick fumbled with the mouthpiece.

"Well, hello dere," a cheerful voice answered, "Di'n't think dere was nobody out dere. Where you at?"

Nick heard Ellis fire off a few shots and some infected whining.

"We're at the big plantation looking house."

"Okay. Well, you jus' hang on out dere. I'll be dere real quick."

"Okay," Nick said as an infected scratched him in the back. He turned to shoot it and saw more coming their way.

Whether it had been the radio or some kind of malevolent act of the universe, hordes had begun to pour into the yard. A Boomer ambushed them from the hedges, vomiting a bit on Nick. One good shot took care of him, but the damage was done. A pipe bomb finished that horde and the two men caught their breathe a moment.

"Kinda wish we could use that gun," Ellis nodded back to the mounted gun at the house as another wave came from their side.

"If you want to go use it, you can go back there yourself. I'm staying here," Nick grumbled. The hick pouted as he reloaded his machine gun.

A Charger mowed a path through the other infected, knocking Ellis to the ground. A few of Nick's shotgun blasts took it down. Ellis got a Smoker as it popped up over one of the hedges and Nick saw him grin. Another lull in the horde gave him the time to wonder just how much longer they had to wait.

Then they felt it.

The ground shook. A pounding and then a terrible roar. Nick saw the kid tense, his eyes getting wide, his sight a thousand miles away. He waited, shoving cartridges into his shotgun. A Tank came into view from the big doors of the house. Then another roar and one pulled itself up onto the left side of second floor.

"Holy shit, there's two of them," Ellis' voice was high pitched, terrified. He seemed frozen in place as he stared at the two monsters approaching. Nick grabbed him by the arm and pulled him away.

Mostly, they ran, occasionally shooting. They'd barely survived their first Tank. Nick was fairly sure Ellis was on the verge of tears. Then, a horn ripped through the air and something ripped through the doors to the dock. They made their way through the wreckage. One of the Tanks finally fell as Nick threw a molotov in its face. They stumbled their way on to the deck of the small boat. The Tank and other infected all hissed and bellowed at their departure.

Ellis dropped to the deck, taking a shaky breath. Nick wiped his brow. That was a rough one to be sure.

"Hello dere, gen'lemen." They turned to see their savior. He was a short, somewhat older fellow with red hair and squinty eyes. His beard and outfit gave him a backwoods sort of appearance. "Glad t' have ya on board."

"Thank ya," Ellis jumped to his feet, extending a hand, "Mah name's Ellis and this here is Nick."

"Good t' meetchoo boys. The name's Virgil." Handshakes were exchanged. "Well, I reckon you boys've been through a lot. So why on't you two go hava sit down below?"

Both followed as Virgil took them below deck. The cabin area was small but it'd do. With a nod, Virgil left them to rest.


	8. Chapter 8

Woohoo, Hard Rain. One of my favorite campaigns. Not much else to say. Enjoy.

_Disclaimer: I don't own L4D2. I'm having withdrawals though._

Morning rolled around and Virgil woke them for breakfast. Nick was greeted with a cup of strong black coffee and a bowl of grits.

"Thank you, Virgil," Ellis smiled as he was given his ration and began to wolf it down.

Though meager and far from the best he'd ever had, it was nice to have a warm breakfast for a change. Afterwards, they went above deck.

The shore was visible in the distance though there was no way an infected was getting to them unless it grew wings. Nick nervously glanced skyward. That'd be just their luck... Still, this was about the safest they'd been since the whole ordeal had started.

"Y'know, I ain't been on a boat like this before," the hick said as he sidled up to Nick. "I been on fishin' boats before. Like, little fishin' boats for like 3 or 4 people. I toured a real big ship once, but it wasn't like this. It was one of them old battleships that they turned into a museum or whatever. You been on many boats?"

"A few cruises." He shrugged.

"Yeah? T' where?"

"Bahamas once."

"Shit, really. Man, that's awesome. What was it like?"

"It was nice."

"Man, I think it'd be so cool to go to one of them 'exotic' kinda places."

"I actually came to Savannah to try some riverboat cruises."

"Really? I ain't never been on one of 'em before. Maybe we could go on one once all this is over."

Nick said nothing. Why did he bring up shit like that? He was fairly certain the kid wanted to say more but Virgil started their way.

"Hey dere."

"Hey Virgil. What's up?"

"I hate t' bring dis up, but I was wond'rin if I could get you boys t' help me."

Nick didn't like the sound of that.

"What do you have in mind?" he asked.

"Well, I been out here quite a while now and mah tanks are gettin' kinda low. I need t' be gettin' some more fuel. Specially if we're gonna be gettin' t' Nawleans."

"What? No."

"Nick..."

"Lookie here, sir," Virgil drawled, "Now, as I see it, I di'n't owe you a thang when I came to git you from that dock, dere. I did it outta the kindness of mah heart and a sense of moral obligation. And I am a gen'rally hospitable man, and wouldn't ask a guest to do such a thang, but you got a stake in this too. If I run outta gas, we'll be floatin' out here for a long time and it's still quite a ways t' Nawleans..."

"C'mon Nick, it ain't like he's asking for a lot," Ellis said quietly. Nick glared at the kid for a moment. Damn these Southerners; damn them all.

"Fine, we'll get you some gas."

"That's mighty nice of you boys," a crooked, toothy smile spread across the old man's face, "Now, I know a place a bit further on. I'll have enough gas t' git dere but you'll needta git back t' me wit it as fast as ya can. Den we can get back to headin' for Nawleans."

"How far are we?" Nick asked.

"'Bout two hours out. I gotcha some supplies," he motioned and they followed him back below where he showed them a bag of ammo and flares. "You can use whatcha need and the flares're for when ya want me t' pick ya up."

"Wait, 'pick us up'?"

"I can't be stayin' round shore too long or those zombie fellers'll be tryin to hop ship. I'll go a bit out from shore an' wait fer ya."

Nick glowered at the man. Why couldn't this have just been a nice cruise to New Orleans?

"You ready?" Ellis asked as he sat by Nick.

"No."

"C'mon, Nick, it ain't gonna be that hard."

The older man just stared at him. A call from Virgil brought them back up deck. He pulled along the dock and wished them well. They watched him float away.

"You got the bag, sport?"

"..No."

"What?" Nick turned to glare at Ellis who cringed slightly.

"I thought you was gonna get it," he defended.

Nick groaned. All he had was his magnum, Ellis putting their shotgun and machine gun in the bag. Then there was the fact that without the bag he didn't know how they would signal Virgil.

"Dammit, Ellis."

"C'mon, let's just go get the gas and maybe we'll find some flares and shit along the way," he smiled apologetically.

They walked through the fast food joint, finding the remnants of past survivors passing through. Nick found a first aid kit and a Molotov. Ellis grabbed a baseball bat.

Storm clouds had gathered on the horizon and Nick didn't like it. Low rumbles of thunder sounded like drums in the distance getting closer. After a few blocks, he felt droplets falling on his face. No, he didn't like this at all.

They bolted the saferoom door behind them. Nick tried to commit to memory some of the things they'd passed, as he hoped Ellis would as well. The rain had started in earnest by the time they got there and his jacket had started to stick to him.

"Hey Nick, look at this."

"What?" He scanned the wall he had indicated. Along with all the usual stupid graffiti were warnings of Witches and, from the sound of it, plenty of them.

"What dya think?"

"I think we shouldn't have done this."

"No, about the Witches."

"If they're there, they're there, and we can't do anything about that from here."

Ellis pursed his lips, contemplating his words.


End file.
